Where Dreams and Visions Live Anthology Editor: Mary Blowers

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North-easterly: Monumental…

We had spotted the cross on our way to Rudston, but as time was getting on and we still had a long way to go, we decided against stopping. Although it was an unusally fine and ornate example, we have seen many such crosses and they are usually Victorian or later, erected, more often than not, to the glory of the local gentry or as a mark of civic pride.

They are called Eleanor Crosses, but there were only ever twelve true Eleanor Crosses, erected by her husband, King Edward I, to mark the places where the body of Eleanor of Castile, Queen Consort of England, rested each night as it was brought from Harby in Nottinghamshire to Westminster Abbey in 1290.

In the end, after catching sight of yet another strange monument on our way through the village, we took note of the name… Sledmere… and determined to return…